Godfrey was a kid with some potential, a top 100 level talent coming out of high school. But he burned through his first chance at the high major level, getting kicked off the team at Iowa State as a freshman. He spent last year at Howard College, but couldn’t do enough in the classroom to get himself eligible.

LSU will now be left with a roster that has just 10 scholarship players, one of whom is a 7-foot-2 walk-on who was a tuba player in the school’s marching band before being “discovered”.

But this is less about what happens with LSU as it is what happens to Calvin Godfrey. From ESPN.com:

He was a shot-blocking and rebounding terror. He was raw but certainly the kind of player who could develop into a defensive stopper for a Division I program. One night, I watched him block 10 shots (at least). You couldn’t maneuver around him. His long arms and leaping ability helped him put a lid on the rim. And he was so much stronger than the other kids on the floor.

But I had questions about Godfrey’s demeanor. He had a short fuse. He yelled at teammates. After Godfrey’s team had suffered a loss to local powerhouse Hopkins High School, fans from the winning team taunted him. Godfrey charged toward them with clenched fists. I thought he was going to throw a punch. Lucky for them, he didn’t.

Young players can mature. Sometimes, a troubled kid grows up. But those early red flags can also point to trouble.

I don’t know Calvin Godfrey. I can’t even definitively tell you what he can do on a basketball court. I watch as much college basketball as anyone, but keeping tabs on a kid that averaged 5.7 points and 5.4 boards for a team that went 3-13 in the Big 12 isn’t a high priority.

But what I do know is that every city has a story about their local basketball star that never made it.

Godfrey has now cost himself a chance at two high-major programs. How many more coaches are going to come calling?